Editing Pike (weapon) (section)

==History==

===Ancient Europe===
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[[File:Makedonische phalanx.png|thumb|[[Macedonian phalanx]]]]
{{main|Sarissa}}
Although very long spears had been used since the dawn of organized warfare (notably illustrated in art showing Sumerian and Minoan warriors and hunters), the earliest recorded use of a pike-like weapon in the tactical method described above involved the [[Ancient Macedonians|Macedonian]] sarissa, used by the troops of [[Alexander the Great]]'s father, [[Philip II of Macedon]], and successive dynasties, which dominated warfare for several centuries in many countries. <!-- As "pike" is a European name for this type of weapon, this page focuses on the use of the pike in Europe. Pikes were also probably used for hunting and fishing. For more information on its classical usage in the Hellenistic world, see the entry for [[sarissa]].-->

After the fall of the last successor of Macedon, the pike largely fell out of use for the next 1,000 or so years. The one exception to this appears to have been in Germany, where [[Tacitus]] recorded Germanic tribesmen in the 2nd century AD as using "over-long spears". He consistently refers to the spears used by the Germans as being "massive" and "very long" suggesting that he is describing in essence a pike. [[Julius Caesar]], in his [[De Bello Gallico]], describes the [[Helvetii]] as fighting in a tight, phalanx-like formation with spears jutting out over their shields. Caesar was probably describing an early form of the [[shieldwall]] so popular in later times.

===Medieval Europe revival===
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In the [[Middle Ages]], the principal users of the pike were urban militia troops such as the [[Flemings]] or the peasant array of the lowland [[Scottish people|Scots]]. For example, the Scots used a spear formation known as the ''[[schiltron]]'' in several battles during the [[Wars of Scottish Independence]] including the [[Battle of Bannockburn]] in 1314, and the Flemings used their ''geldon'' long spear to absorb the attack of French knights at the [[Battle of the Golden Spurs]] in 1302, before other troops in the Flemish formation counterattacked the stalled knights with [[goedendag]]s. Both battles were seen by contemporaries as stunning victories of commoners over superbly equipped, mounted, military professionals, where victory was owed to the use of the pike and the brave resistance of the commoners who wielded them.

These formations were essentially immune to the attacks of mounted men-at-arms as long as the knights obligingly threw themselves on the spear wall and the foot soldiers remained steady under the morale challenge of facing a cavalry charge, but the closely packed nature of pike formations rendered them vulnerable to enemy archers and crossbowmen who could shoot them down with impunity, especially when the pikemen did not have adequate armor. Many defeats, such as at [[Battle of Roosebeke|Roosebeke]] and [[Battle of Halidon Hill|Halidon Hill]], were suffered by the militia pike armies when faced by cunning foes who employed their archers and crossbowmen to thin the ranks of the pike blocks before charging in with their (often dismounted) men-at-arms.

[[File:Schlacht bei Dorneck.jpg|thumb|Contemporary woodcut of the [[Battle of Dornach]].]] 
Medieval pike formations tended to have better success when they operated in an aggressive fashion. The Scots at the [[Battle of Stirling Bridge]] (1297), for example, utilized the momentum of their charge to overrun an English army while the Englishmen were crossing a narrow bridge. At the [[Battle of Laupen]] (1339), [[Bern]]ese pikemen overwhelmed the infantry forces of the opposing Habsburg/Burgundian army with a massive charge before wheeling over to strike and rout the Austro-Burgundian horsemen as well. At the same time however such aggressive action required considerable tactical cohesiveness or suitable terrain to protect the vulnerable flanks of the pike formations especially from the attack of mounted [[man-at-arms]].{{citation needed|date=June 2021}} When these features were not available, militia often suffered costly failures,{{clarify|date=June 2021}} such as at the battles of [[Battle of Mons-en-Pevele|Mons-en-Pevele]] (1304), [[Battle of Cassel (1328)|Cassel]] (1328), [[Battle of Roosebeke|Roosebeke]] (1382) and [[Battle of Othée|Othee]] (1408).{{citation needed|date=June 2021}} The constant success of the [[Swiss mercenaries]] in the later period was attributed to their extreme discipline and tactical unity due to semi-professional nature, allowing a pike block to somewhat alleviate the threat presented by flanking attacks.

Perhaps copying the nearby Swiss model, the pike had a certain diffusion also in the [[duchy of Milan]] in the last two years of the 14th century. In 1391, a decree by [[Gian Galeazzo Visconti]] ordered the pikes to be at least 10 feet long in Milan, equivalent to 4.35&nbsp;m (14.3&nbsp;ft) and their tips to be reinforced with iron strips to prevent enemies, given their length, from cutting or breaking them. A second decree of 1397 provided that half the infantry of the duchy were armed with pikes.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Romanoni |first1=Fabio |title="Castrum paene in mundo singulare". Scritti per Aldo Settia in occasione del novantesimo compleanno |date=2023 |publisher=Sagep Editori |location=Genova |isbn=979-12-5590-015-3 |pages=214–216 |url=https://www.academia.edu/107017911 |access-date=22 September 2023 |language=it |chapter=Balestrieri, pavesari e lance lunghe: la tripartizione funzionale delle cernite di Gian Galeazzo Visconti del 1397}}</ref>

It was not uncommon for aggressive pike formations to be composed of dismounted [[man-at-arms|men-at-arms]], as at the [[Battle of Sempach]] (1386), where the dismounted Austrian vanguard, using their lances as pikes, had some initial success against their predominantly [[halberd]]-equipped Swiss adversaries. Dismounted Italian men-at-arms also used the same method to defeat the Swiss at the [[Battle of Arbedo]] (1422). Equally, well-armored Scottish nobles (accompanied even by King [[James IV]]) were recorded as forming the leading ranks of Scottish pike blocks at the [[Battle of Flodden]] (1513), incidentally rendering the whole formation resistant to English archery.

===Renaissance Europe heyday===
[[File:Bad-war.jpg|thumb|[[Swiss mercenaries|Swiss]] and [[Landsknecht]] pikemen fight at "[[push of pike]]" during the [[Italian Wars]].]]
[[File:Slag om Grolle 2008-1 - Een eenheid piekeniers doet exercities bij de kampementen.jpg|thumb|Pikemen exercising during the [[Battle of Grolle]].]]

The [[Swiss mercenaries|Swiss]] solved the pike's earlier problems and brought a renaissance to pike warfare in the 15th century, establishing strong training regimens to ensure they were masters of handling the ''Spiess'' (the German term for "skewer") on maneuvers and in combat; they also introduced marching to drums for this purpose. This meant that the pike blocks could rise to the attack, making them less passive and more aggressive formations, but sufficiently well trained that they could go on the defensive when attacked by cavalry. German soldiers known as [[Landsknecht]]s later adopted Swiss methods of pike handling.

The [[Scottish people|Scots]] predominantly used shorter spears in their [[schiltron]] formation; their attempt to adopt the longer Continental pike was dropped for general use after its ineffective use led to humiliating defeat at the [[Battle of Flodden]].

Such Swiss and Landsknecht phalanxes also contained men armed with two-handed swords, or ''[[Zweihänder]]'', and [[halberd]]iers for close combat against both infantry and attacking cavalry.

The Swiss were confronted with the German ''Landsknecht'' who used similar tactics as the Swiss, but more pikes in the more difficult ''German thrust'' ({{langx|de|deutscher Stoß}}: holding a pike that had its weight in the lower 1/3 at the end with two hands), which was utilized in a more flexible attacking column.

The high military reputation of the Swiss and the ''Landsknechts'' again led to the employment of mercenary units across Europe in order to train other armies in their tactics. These two, and others who had adopted their tactics, faced off in several wars, leading to a series of developments as a result.<ref name=Schaufelberger/>

These formations had great successes on the battlefield, starting with the astonishing victories of the [[Swiss cantons]] against [[Charles the Bold]] of [[Duchy of Burgundy|Burgundy]] in the [[Burgundian Wars]], in which the Swiss participated in 1476 and 1477. In the [[Battle of Grandson|Battles of Grandson]], [[Battle of Morat|Morat]], and [[Battle of Nancy|Nancy]], the Swiss not only successfully resisted the attacks of enemy knights, as the relatively passive Scottish and Flemish infantry squares had done in the earlier Middle Ages, but also marched to the attack with great speed and in good formation, their attack columns steamrolling the Burgundian forces, sometimes with great massacre.

The deep pike attack column remained the primary form of effective infantry combat for the next forty years, and the [[Swabian War]] saw the first conflict in which both sides had large formations of well-trained pikemen. After that war, its combatants—the Swiss (thereafter generally serving as [[Swiss mercenaries|mercenaries]]) and their Landsknecht imitators—would often face each other again in the [[Italian Wars]], which would become in many ways the military proving ground of the Renaissance.

The so-called ''[[:de:Schefflineisen|Schefflin]]'' was a polearm, closely related to the pike, which from the late 1400s and throughout the 16th century saw widespread use in the German-speaking world. It served as a multipurpose weapon for both infantry (in the manner of pikes) and light cavalry (in the manner of demi-lances). Characteristically, it featured a large, hollow-made and leaf-shaped head of about {{convert|50|cm|ft|abbr=on}} or more, which was attached to a long and slender shaft. Apart from being used by soldiers in battle, a tassel fixed to the socket of the head together with optional further embellishment made the ''Schefflin'' an appropriate main weapon for princely bodyguards and courtly officials. There seems to be a close relation between the contemporary German term ''Schefflin'' and the West European terms ''javeline'' (French) and ''javelin'' (English), both referring to some type of cavalry spear. Although rarely noticed, many of these weapons have survived to this day. Some pieces, of which many are said to have been used by the personal entourage of Henry VIII, are kept at the Royal Armouries in Leeds.

===Ancient China===
Pikes and long halberds were in use in ancient China from the [[Warring States period]] since the 5th century BC. Infantrymen used a variety of long polearm weapons, but the most popular was the [[dagger-axe]], pike-like long spear, and the [[ji (polearm)|''ji'']]. The dagger-axe and ''ji'' came in various lengths, from {{convert|2.75|to|5.5|m|ft|abbr=on}}; the weapon consisted of a thrusting spear with a slashing blade appended to it. Dagger-axes and ''ji'' were an extremely popular weapon in various kingdoms, especially for the Qin state and [[Qin dynasty]], and possibly the succeeding Han dynasty, who produced {{convert|5.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} halberd and pike-like weapons, as well as {{convert|6.7|m|ft|abbr=on}} long pikes during the [[Han-Xiongnu War|war against Xiongnu]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctoDUdpRwzM ''An Army Reborn'' (Terracotta Army) Documentary Video (August 12, 2017)]</ref>

===Classical Japan===
During the continuous European development of the pike, Japan experienced a parallel evolution of pole weapons.

In [[History of Japan|Classical Japan]], the Japanese style of warfare was generally fast-moving and aggressive, with far shallower formations than their European equivalents. The [[naginata]] and [[yari]] were more commonly used than swords for Japanese [[ashigaru]] foot soldiers and dismounted [[samurai]] due to their greater reach. Naginata, first used around 750 AD, had curved sword-like blades on wooden shafts with often spiked metal counterweights. They were typically used with a slashing action and forced the introduction of [[Suneate|shin guards]] as cavalry battles became more important. Yari were spears of varying lengths; their straight blades usually had sharpened edges or protrusions from the central blade, and were fitted to a hollowed shaft with an extremely long tang.

===Medieval Japan===
During the later half of the 16th century in [[History of Japan|Medieval Japan]], pikes used were generally {{convert|4.5|to|6.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} long, but sometimes up to {{convert|10|m|ft|abbr=on}} in length. By this point, pikemen were becoming the main forces in armies. They formed lines, combined with [[arquebusier]]s and [[spearmen]]. Formations were generally only two or three rows deep.